


trifecta of harmony

by aCrystalBirdie



Category: Pokemon GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Modern AU, Multi, Nonbinary Blanche, OT3, Other, candela and blanche with a dash of spark, oh boy these three give me life, these dorks have adventures together as they work studying Pokémon and being team leaders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 02:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7959607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aCrystalBirdie/pseuds/aCrystalBirdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Pokémon had been successfully developed over the years, but for the most part had stayed within labs until now. In a couple of months, however, Pokémon were due to be released into the wild and modern society, integrating with the earth’s existing species. This project had been dubbed Pokémon Go, and it was the main focus of Pokémon facilities globally."</p><p>Candela, Blanche, and Spark work with each other as leaders of Pokémon Go, but eventually come to grow together into their own haphazard family of sorts.<br/>(Nonbinary Blanche, specifically agender. Eventual Candela/Blanche relationship with Spark on the side, can be read as polyamory. basically these three cuddle a lot and are huge dorks)</p>
            </blockquote>





	trifecta of harmony

**Author's Note:**

> this story takes place in a modern setting in which Candela, Blanche, and Spark live with us in the world as we discover the joys of Pokémon Go. basically, I've adapted the characters into our own "canon" world, placing them within Niantic and showing how these three work to bring us the app. pokémon are real in this universe, though, not just augmented reality.
> 
> consists of drabbles and adventures of our OT3, following real life as new updates roll out for the game.

It was 9 AM — early enough to still be morning, but late enough so that the sun had risen enough to drive off most of dawn’s cool chill. The streets of San Francisco were still in rush hour mode, but were starting to taper off a bit as people reached their work destinations. This didn’t bother Blanche as much, who was walking to their destination from a bus stop. Checking their phone one last time to confirm the location, Blanche entered the Starbucks on Powell St, scanning the room until they spotted Professor Willow. With an easy smile on his face, he beckoned to them, and they crossed to sit in the seat opposite him.

“Punctual as usual, as expected from you,” Willow said in greeting.

“Good morning to you too, Professor,” Blanche demurred with a nod. “How are you today?”

“I’m fine, thank you very much. I’m looking forward to working with you and the two other trainers I’ve called here.”

“Yes, the project is going along very nicely,” Blanche commented. “Do we have a release date in mind?”

Willow smiled. “It’ll be something ongoing, but our team is aiming for introduction by July.”

“Of this year? That gives us only a few more months.”

“Your work with studying Pokémon has helped the development more than you give yourself credit for, Blanche.” Willow pulled out his phone and a Pokédex. “The research is being made available on the Pokédex, which is available to download to any smartphone, but we’re also working on prototype Pokédex standalone devices.” He handed the Pokédex to Blanche, who studied it and then turned it on, reading through the different descriptions.

“I’m not sure this is all the Pokémon we’ve been breeding,” they said, noting the total amount of entries as 151.

“You’ll have to check with Spark with that when he comes, I don’t know the exact number of species we’re planning to release first.”

“Spark is the expert on breeding you mentioned, then?”

Professor Willow’s lips quirked. “You could say that. I have you representing Pokémon research, him representing Pokémon breeding, and then a representative for Pokémon battle.” His eyes focused behind Blanche. “That seems to be her now.”

A young woman closed the glass door behind her, running her other hand through short-cropped brown hair before meeting Professor Willow’s gaze and smiling in greeting. She walked over to their booth. “Good morning, Willow.” Sitting on Blanche’s half of the booth, she extended her hand for a shake. “My name’s Candela. I’m one of the habilitation therapists.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Blanche, and I work as a developmental scientist. I’m agender, so I ask that you refer to me as they or them.” Blanche hoped Candela would respect their gender and pronouns; they tried to make a habit of asserting their preference to people they met, but sometimes people who rarely interacted with them would misgender them.

The corners of Candela’s eyes crinkled as her smile grew bigger. “I’ll make sure to remember that, then.”

Blanche exhaled in relief. “Thank you.” They smiled at Candela.

“It seems we’re only waiting for one more now,” Professor Willow noted. “Would you two excuse me? I’d like to order some coffee while waiting.” He got up and joined the small line to the counter, leaving Candela and Blanche alone.

Candela cleared her throat, trying to think of something to say to Blanche. Finally she settled on, “Have you met the third person Willow’s invited here yet?”

“No, I haven’t. Have you?”

Candela shook her head. “I’m not so familiar with people outside my department. I mean, yes, I’ve been part of research groups before, but I’ve never had any long-term partners.”

Blanche nodded slowly. “It’s the same for me. From what the professor has said, though, I would guess that you can I can expect to be working closely in a unit.”

“It’s not every day you’re introduced to your co-workers over coffee instead of in the lab,” Candela agreed. “Although Willow hasn’t detailed what exactly our assignment is yet, at least not to me. I know you, I, and another trainer will be collaborating to organize some final mechanics of the project before it’s revealed, but I don’t know how we’ll be doing that yet.” Candela looked to Professor Willow, now ordering his coffee, and watched as a young man who had just entered the store tapped his shoulder, stopping him midsentence. Willow said something to the young man, waving him off in the direction of their table.

In a few strides he reached them and smiled, his hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Hey there. Are you two friends of Professor Willow?”

“Yes, that’s us,” Candela asserted. “Of the Pokémon Go project?”

The blond nodded, tucking his hands into the pockets of the yellow vest he wore. “I’m one of the breeders. My name is Spark.” He sat down across them.

“I’m Blanche, and this is Candela,” Blanche replied, gesturing to Candela. “I’m agender, so I go by they or them, for future reference.”

“They, or them,” Spark repeated, closing his eyes as to commit it to memory. Then he popped his eyes open again. “Okay, got it. Would you happen to be the one researching evolution?”

“Yes,” Blanche replied. “Did Professor Willow mention me by name?”

Spark smiled. “No, it was just a hunch. And you — “ he turned to Candela — “are the fearsome battle trainer.” It wasn’t a question.

With a smirk, Candela said, “Yep, that’s me. I study the abilities of each Pokémon species and train individual Pokémon to improve their strength. And you? Don’t tell me being a breeder means carrying eggs everywhere you go.”

Spark let out a surprised laugh. “I’m sorry… but I do!” He slung his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it to reveal an orange incubator, housing a green and white spotted egg.

“Oh?” Blanche reached for the incubator, studying it. “This is a different color from our standard issued incubators.”

“Yeah,” Spark confirmed proudly. “It’s a prototype made to last indefinitely, but they’re significantly harder to produce than the originals. That’s why these aren’t available in bulk like the standard blue ones. I think right now each trainer is limited to one per person.”

“Do you have a Pokédex prototype as well?” Candela picked up Professor Willow’s pokédex on the table and showed it to him. He studied it, then shook his head. “Then hopefully the three of us might have access to all the new technology soon.”

Professor Willow chose that time to return, holding his new cup of coffee and a packet of sugar. “If you three would like to order, place your orders now. I’m glad everyone’s here now.”

A few minutes later, everyone was comfortably seated in the booth, Candela and Blanche facing Professor Willow and Spark. Spark indulged in his mocha frappuccino while Candela cautiously sipped her steaming chai latte. Blanche idly stirred their iced macchiato.

“Thank you all for meeting me here,” Professor Willow began. “Now, with the release of Pokémon Go happening soon, these last few months are crucial. I find that you three are adept in your branches of study, so I handpicked you three for this task.”

It was true that the last few months before July were to be hectic. The Pokémon Go project was something that had first started back in 2014, but the Pokémon species involved dated back to at least 1996. Back then, scientists had been developing and breeding new species and hybrids of animals, dubbed “pocket monsters” or Pokémon for their ability to be portably housed. These Pokémon and the technology required to sustain them had been successfully developed over the years, but for the most part had stayed within labs until now. In a couple of months, Pokémon were due to be released into the wild and modern society, integrating with the earth’s existing species. This project had been dubbed Pokémon Go, and it was the main focus of Pokémon facilities globally.

“Now,” Professor Willow continued, “what I’m asking the three of you to do is a very heavy responsibility, but I believe you’re more than capable of the task. As I’ve seen, you are all dedicated workers and researchers to Pokémon. The top in your respective fields. I’d like you now to oversee the final developments of the project before its release. You three will now be taking charge of the last arrangements. I need people with varying expertise in differing subjects to give me feedback on the overall ability of the project.”

“Excuse me, Professor?” Blanche said. “You’re transferring the organization of the project… to the three of us?” The three of them had all come from the head facility Niantic, consisting of 50 members, but smaller labs globally answered to their facility. In a sense, they were being promoted to bosses of the main headquarters.

“Yes,” Professor Willow repeated. “Consider yourself the new team leaders of Pokémon Go. That is, if you’re willing, of course.”

Candela slowly nodded. “This is a big honor. Thank you, Willow.”

“I’ll do my best to help,” Blanche seconded.

Spark nodded vehemently as well. “You can count on me!”

Professor Willow sighed in relief. “I was scared one of you might not want the pressure and responsibility, but it seems I was right choosing you three. Now, the division of your jobs ultimately remains to you, but my general idea is to have you directing preparations for Pokémon introduction. Make sure the phone app for Pokémon Go is functional and is linked to the tracking devices on our pokémon. Our branches around the world have Pokéstops and gyms set up ready to be initiated, but you need to have them double checked and stocked with the necessary items. Check to see if any technology malfunctions that we’ll need to delay the release of. Introduce the concept of Pokémon around us. And the biggest part… you three will be the faces of Pokémon Go.”

Spark frowned. “Could you explain what you mean by faces?”

“Pokémon Go requires a network of trainers communicating and helping each other to raise Pokémon. Each of you will be leaders of teams that unite people with common goals together. As team leaders, you will train, instruct, and better your members. You won’t be able to interact with everyone personally because of the size of this project, but you three will be the leaders of this project.

“There’s not much left for me to do; it’s in your hands now to see this project through. I’ll be here to help but ultimately decisions will be made by all of you.” Professor Willow pulled out some papers from his portfolio. “Now, this is the current stage we’re at in development. What would you like to finalize first?”

Candela hesitated, reading over the documents. “I suppose… first, let’s look into these Pokéstops. Is there a way we can keep the supplies replenished and prevent individuals from taking them all at once?”

Spark volunteered, “We could set a limit for how many items each person takes.”

“That would be ideal,” Blanche agreed, “but there will always be people who will take their supplies, dump them outside, come back again, and repeat the process.”

“Set a time limit, then,” Candela remarked. “One visit per hour?”

“Too long,” Spark said. “With how quickly supplies are used, they need to be available more readily.”

“One hour time limit, but a lottery for the items received,” Blanche compromised. “There’s a chance of receiving up to 7 items from each visit.”

Candela frowned. “That’s not fair to the people who get 1 item per visit with their luck.”

“People travel quickly. The limit should be per individual Pokéstop, not per hour.” Spark mused, fishing a Pokéball out of his pocket.

Candela stood up. “Let’s test that, then. How about we make the rounds and check on the pokéstops we have in this city? Take a walk around San Francisco, judge for ourselves what’s adequate.”

Spark and Blanche agreed to this, but Professor Willow declined. “I’ll actually head back to my lab to get some more things in order, so I’m afraid I can’t join you. But I’m sure the three of you will get along just fine. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“We should exchange our phone numbers as well,” Blanche reminded them as they walked out of Starbucks, pulling out their phone. At the street corner, Professor Willow left them, meandering off. Spark pulled out his phone and handed it to Candela for her to input her number, juggling a Pokéball in his other hand. 

He dropped the Pokéball to the ground. “Shit.”

Seeing a flash of light, Professor Willow turned around to find an apologetic Spark squished under a Snorlax, Candela giggling and Blanche already coaxing the Pokémon off him. Passerby were staring, some pulling out their phones to snap a picture of the Snorlax. “Hey, shoo!” Candela exclaimed, waving them off. “We’re conducting research here!” A snort escaped from Spark underneath.

Oh, these three were going to be just great.

**Author's Note:**

> tried to make this as accurate as possible; Pokémon Go actually began development in 2014 and the Pokémon series actually did start in 1996 and Niantic actually does consist of 50 members and their main offices actually are located in San Francisco, CA, and the Starbucks that Prof. Willow and our gang meet in actually does exist on a Powell St. and I actually chose that particular Starbucks because I remember it specifically from my last visit to SF and —
> 
> god the accuracy of my research hurts
> 
> (before you ask, I'm Team Instinct. really gay for Candela and Blanche but Spark will always be my precious memelord.)


End file.
